Electric-railway system.



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www RG Tu Cn HA E WILLIAM G. KEELER, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

ELECTRIC-RAILWAY SYSTEM.

To all whom t mag/concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM G. KEELER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Philadelphia, county of Philadelphia, and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement inElectric-Railway Systems, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a new and useful improvement in electric-railwaysystems, and has for its object to provide improved means to pick up ortake up the current from line-wire. v

With this end in view this invention consists in the details ofconstruction and combination of elements hereinafter set forth and thenspeciflcally'designated by the claims.

In order that those skilled in the art to which this inventionappertains may understand how to make and use the same, the constructionand operation willnow be dedescribed in detail, referring to theaccompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in whichFigure 1 is a side elevation of an electric car and a portion of aroad-bed equipped with my invention g Fig. 2, a longitudinal sectionthrough one of the contacts located' in the road-bedg Fig. 3, across-section taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4, a cross-sectiontaken on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2.

The essential feature of my invention consists in equipping eachelectric car with an endless metallic cable or belt running over wheelslocated underneath each end of the car and journaled in bearingsdepending from the car. Said endless cable or belt may may be in theform of a chain, solid wire, or a series of twisted wires, and theylower run of this cable or belt is adapted by its own weight to sagdown and come in contact with contacts located in the road-bed an equaldistance apart connected with an underground linewire. It will be seenthat the friction generated between the contacts and the cable or beltwill be sufficient to hold the cable or belt practically stationary uponsaid contacts while the car travels forward, and thus there will be nosliding contact and friction will be done away with, as in case of shoeswhich slide either upon a third rail or over contacts, the cable or beltcoming down in a vertical line upon the contact and remaining stationaryin contact with said contact until the rearward end of the car isreached, when the cable or belt will then pass upward from the con-Speccation of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 16, 1905. Serial No. 265,487.

Patented Dec. 26, 1905.

tact and over the rearward pulley, it being understood that there willbe always at least two contacts underneath the car at one time, so thatthe cable or belt will make contact with one before leaving the other. y

A represents the contacts located in the road-bed.

B is the belt or cable, which runs over pulleys C, loosely journaled ateach end of the car.

I do not wish to limit myself to any particular form of contact; but inFigs. 2, 3, and 4 I have shown a very desirable form,which consists of acontact-block I), which is protected by a shell E, said shell beingslotted at the top at E, the lips of the shell upon each side of theslot being curved inward, so as to guide the belt or cable to thecontact-block D. Said contact-block Dis bolted to the crosspiece F, theends of the cross-piece F being supported upon the shell in such amanner that the shell can be easily removed from the cross-piece. Saidcross-piece F is also `securedby means of the plate G to a tube I'I,through which a branch wire I extends to the line-wire. The branch wireI is connected to the contact-block D. Of course it is understood thatall parts are properly insulated from one another.

A shield J is secured to the contact-block, which protects the partsunderneath the same from moisture, and the shell E is supported a slightdistance above the ties, so that any water entering through the slot Emay easily flow off, the shell E being secured to the ties at each endby the standards K.

It will thus be seen that as the car travels forward the cable is alwaysrevolving around the pulleys C, and as the contact is reached the cableor belt simply travels downward to the contact, and that portion of thecable or belt lying upon the contact will remain stationary with thatcontact until the rearward end of the car reaches the contact, when thecable will simply pass'upward out of contact in traveling around therearward pulley C. Thus all friction between the contacts and means ofpicking up the current is avoided, as in the case of shoes or rollers.

I have not shown any means for transferring the current from the cableor belt to the motor and the car, as that is not a part of my invention,and there are numerous ways in which this could be accomplished. Ofcourse it is understood that the upper run of the cable can be guidedand supported by suit- TOO' IIO

able intermediate pulleys, if so desired., and insulating supports canbe placed in the roadbed between the contacts to keep the lower run ofthe cable or belt out of contact with the road-bed.

Of course I do not wish to be limited in any Way to the exactconstruction here shown, as slight modifications could be made withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention.

I-Iaving thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new anduseful is-' In an electric-railway system, a series of contacts locatedin the road-bed an equal distance apart, the distance being less thanthe length of the car, each contact connected to a line-wire, a ilexibleor pliable endless metallic cable or belt arranged underneath each car,

l belt adapted to lie upon the contacts by its own weight and remainstationary with said contacts as the car travels forward, a slottedshell arranged over each of the contact-blocks, the walls of the slotbeing curved in such a manner as to -act as a guide for the cable.

In testimony whereoic I have hereunto af* fixed my signature in thepresence of ytwo subscribing witnesses.

` WILLIAM G. KEELER.

Witnesses:

NEAL E. DUFFEY, ERNEST RiEBEN.

